RENAULT technical chief Pat Symonds claims his team will benefit from Formula One's winter rule changes, revealing they won their first world championships with an "old- fashioned" engine.

New rules come into force for next season restricting engine capacity, with teams on the fringes of success hoping that change could erode the advantage built up by the likes of Renault and McLaren.

But Symonds, Renault's executive director of engineering, claims the opposite is true and believes the enforced change to 2.4-litre V8 engines will make his team even stronger.

He told PA Sport: "I think as a team we have always come out of change very well, we react to change very well.

"While we had a great car-engine-driver combination last season, the engine was a little bit old fashioned. It was heavier than most, it had a higher centre of gravity than most so the 2.4-litre V8s have levelled the playing field.

"I hope it will have a positive effect for us, I'm always an optimist."

Symonds helped Michael Schumacher win back-to-back titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995 and is eager to repeat that trick with Fernando Alonso next year.

The Spaniard made history by becoming the youngest champion in Formula One and Symonds is pushing the 24-year-old to keep on winning.

"Anyone who is in motorsport goes to every race to win it," he added. "It doesn't matter how unrealistic that is - you have got to have it in your head and we go to every race to win it.

"We won a few this year and we are going to win a few more next year.

"Funnily enough, I don't quite understand why, you get hungry to do it 1/8win the championship3/8 again, even more so. It was certainly the same in the mid 1990s when we did it, the second one was much better."

Renault have had no time to put their feet up and enjoy their elevation to world champions, with Symonds driving them on to improve for 2006.

The new car will run early in January, two months before the season starts, and Symonds hopes that head start will contribute to a successful title defence.

He said: "Preparations are hectic. We decided to get the car out a little bit earlier than usual for 2006 mainly because of the new engine.

"It's true these days you do most of the work on the dyno and you don't need to have cars running round the track but there are always those final little bits to check.

"Of course we had a hard push to the end of the championship this year so it has been pretty intense, there's a lot going on. We are very busy but it will all be worthwhile I hope."